When witchcraft first flourished in the 20th Century, it was cutting edge. Hot on the heels of the feminist movement, the fledgling environmental movement, and a time of great social upheaval, neo-paganism opened a whole new realm of possibility that at once called to our roots but also challenged dominant paradigms. At the same time, a lot of us are drawn to pagan beliefs when we ourselves undergo inter and intra-personal change. To dedicate yourself to a pagan path is a challenging step to take, and the journey is a difficult one. If it was easy - everyone would do it. To be a pagan is already a radical and progressive act. But is it enough? I'd like to offer my own interpretation of what radical, progressive paganism can look like.

By making this video Im ultimately inviting the scorn of all internet Pagans to rise up and object. Etymology is a touchy subject for some Pagans, which is exactly what this chapter of Her Hidden Children explores. Some will defend the proposed ideas that certain words mean certain things, and you know what?

Topics of interest in this video: Thomas Morton, three ways of interpreting "Nature", and questions of legitimacy/ establishing a religion as valid in the eyes of other religions. And wind. Lots of wind.

This is Ch. 2 of Her Hidden Children by Chas Clifton reviewed by moi, Travis on my youtube channel, Pagan Scholar. Enjoy!

Hey everyone! Im back after an unexpected hiatus. If you like, you can read along (or just watch and listen) to my forthcoming reviews and summaries of Her Hidden Children by Chas Clifton. It's a book that explores how Wicca and Paganism spread and developed across America. The review starts about two minutes in after some updates.

Side note/Correction: Buckland is still alive, when I say he was a prominent writer, I was thinking about a different author. My bad!

There's a plague out there. Unsolicited advice--or, advice you didn't ask for--is often the first thing that comes out of someone's mouth when you talk about anything bad going on with you. And here's the thing--you probably do it too; I sure know that I do, and I struggle not to. It's an issue of leadership because it's an issue of communication and boundaries, and it also crosses over into pastoral counseling as well. It's certainly an issue that can impact how we function together within communities.

Unasked-for advice happens on autopilot, and here's how it usually plays out.

How strong is the connection between the growth of Paganism and counter-culture challenges to the status quo? What's the specific appeal of Norse mythology? And what it the current status of indigenous peoples in the state of California? We tackle these questions and more this week in Watery Wednesday, our regular segment on news about the Pagan community. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

This week in my Women as Witches, Saints & Healers course, we read the Corrector of Buchard of Worms. This early 11th century handbook guided priests with questions they ought to ask their confessing parishioners in order to root out bad behaviour -- and a lot of the bad behaviour was pre-Christian practices that persisted. The insight these questions offer is rather magical, but the style of his rhetoric makes this much more fun to read than the usual sort of penitential.